All posts tagged in Simulation
Aug 14, 2019
It’s medieval. It’s pretty. It has good music. It’s…gridless? Foundation is a city-building simulation game on PC. We’ve probably all played them, and they tend to be different variations of the same thing. But Foundation is a little different, right from the start. It operates on a grid-free system. And the monuments you place are not pre-designed…you make them yourself. So your town can look different from anyone else’s.
Innovative…
To allow them to create the game they wanted, Polymorph Games started by making their own game engine, which they call Hurricane. They also hired composers to give their game the beautiful soundtrack you can hear in the video below. It’s clear that Foundation is a labour of love, and that Polymorph Games is serious about seeing their vision come to life just as they envisioned it.
So, what does the game being grid-less mean for you, the player? It means that the way you shape your city, and the way it grows, will be organic, not snapped-to-grid. Foundation appears to be a much more natural, personal experience, compared to the standard city-building sims. We love that you can even get up close to the people of your town, and they all look like real little individuals whom you can watch going about their daily lives.
You can also take part in quests and events, which are often part of larger scenarios. Depending on how you manage your game, different scenarios, with different quests associated, can be triggered, giving your town a different story each time you play. (Unless you always play the same way!)
…Yet familiar
But Foundation isn’t so different that lovers of the city-building genre won’t have enough to love. The familiar exists here, too, with resource-managing and ensuring that your population grows while keeping the villagers happy and healthy.
Foundation has been in Early Access on Steam since February 2019, and is still receiving regular updates and improvements. At this point the game appears to have less than about half of the content they mean for it to have upon completion. We do not yet know when the full release will be, or if Foundation will become available on any other platforms after launch. The estimate for now is to have the game in early access for about a year, so if you aren’t the type to want to help shape a developing game or squish bugs, keep your eye on Foundation in early 2020! Foundation is currently available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. The game is also available on GOG.
If you like unusual takes on the city-building genre, then check out our coverage of Before We Leave, a city-building game that takes place across the universe.
- Aug 8, 2019
Pajama Llama Games, the developers behind Flotsam, along with the publishers Kongregate, have just announced that the game will be coming to Steam Early Access on September 26th, 2019! Wishlist this unique town-builder on Steam right here and be one of the first to attempt to survive on the ocean in a post-apocalyptic world! You can check out our previous article on Flotsam here in case you missed it.
The old world has flooded and the driftwood, flotsam or garbage can be recycled by your drifters then turned into boats and buildings. Explore ruins, other small islands, and submerged cities to find items to salvage or people that may want to join your town. You can do this via boats, by swimming, or even by unfurling your sails and moving your entire town (which is usually anchored). Help your drifters to collect rainwater, fish for food, have storage for those resources, by building various workshops and tools. Watch as your drifters construct step-by-step in detail but make sure they’re all taken care of by keeping an eye on their meters, just like the Sims! Continue to build more efficient structures, homes, and other fun stuff as your floating town grows. You can even control the layout of your town and therefore make it your own!
More Information
Follow the developers on Twitter here so you can
stay afloatbe apprised on the latest features with concept art and videos. You may also want to download these awesome wallpapers from the official website here, as seen below. Enjoy their colorful and quirky art style, including the most dashing of seagulls, right on your desktops!New Release Date Trailer
- Jul 16, 2019
Spaceline Crew is developed by Coffeenauts, an indie studio based in Brazil. The game has already won them awards from Big Festival and Game Connection for Best Multiplayer and Best Casual Game. They are currently in their late alpha stage for PC and Mac with the intention of also releasing the game on Steam, Xbox One, PS4, and the Nintendo Switch. See below for everything we know about Spaceline Crew so far.
Cross the galaxy with your friends as flight attendants of commercial spaceships and try to handle asteroids, decompression, puking in zero G, and super demanding alien passengers! In space no one can hear you complain about overbooking…
Setting the Scene for Spaceline Crew…
Space, the final frontier, where brave heroes go on fantastic journeys and intrepid explorers discover new worlds, however, somebody needs to serve the drinks. In this retro sci-fi universe, commercial space travel is commonplace, aliens and humans coexist, but underpaid jobs are still a thing. In Spaceline Crew, you and your friends will play as team of flight attendants whose job is to take wacky alien passengers safely to their destinations. Will they be able to please these demanding customers while at the same time avoiding black holes and distracting the space health inspection?
Spaceline Crew is a Party Game About Airlines in Space!
Up to 4 players take the roles of flight attendants who must cooperate in order to take weird alien passengers safely to their planets. Create your spaceline, buy ships and upgrades, fly your ship through hazardous space, handle system malfunctions, clean alien vomit in zero-g and much more! Can you become a top-class spaceline without being shut down by the fearsome space health inspection?
Spaceline Crew is the first non-violent, rogue-like party game. It combines the procedural events and organic progression of games like FTL; the short sessions, easy-to-learn controls and fast-paced co-op mechanics of games like Overcooked; and the AI NPCs of games like Theme Hospital.
Key Features:
- 4-player co-op mayhem!
- Procedural levels and events!
- Manage hungry, nauseous, drunk, bored aliens!
- Avoid the space health inspector!
- Choose your ship and go!
- Unlock unique themed spaceships!
- Upgrade your ship at spaceports!
- Become your ship’s ace pilot…but don’t make it the vomit comet!
- Master your ship’s systems!
- Transport passengers and make money!
- Original retro soundtrack!
- Universal mouse/keyboard and controller support!
You can follow Spaceline Crew on Facebook here and find out what the team of Coffeenauts is up to! If you love sci-fi, aliens, and space like we do, check out our articles on ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove Review and Astro Bears Splashes Down On Nintendo Switch. Both of which also happen to be multiplayer games as well so go tell all of your friends!
- Jul 14, 2019
Summer in Mara, developed and published by an indie studio, Chibig, will be releasing on Windows, Mac, Steam, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, sometime in 2019. You’ll be able to customize your own island by planting trees, growing crops, and raising livestock such as pigs and chickens (how exciting is it to finally get to raise little piglets?!). You’ll also set sail to new islands full of people to meet and treasure to find!
On the planet Qü, Mara is the name of the ocean that brings life to the islands. Play as Koa, a little adventurer, who has to take care of her home island. She has never seen the outside world beyond her island, but the ocean has always called to her. Now Mara is in danger as the Elit, an evil organization from another planet, want to exploit her resources. The creators mention that the game is inspired by “the exploration in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the farming in Stardew Valley, the visual aspect of Studio Ghibli’s movies, and the adventure feeling of your childhood summers”.
Help Koa maintain her farm by acquiring new skills and by upgrading your tools in order to cut trees with your hatchet, build things with your hammer and use your hoe to help you harvest. Meet the interesting people known as Qüido, the fishermen, merchants, cooks, and explorers on the island. They all have stories to tell and you can form relationships with them! Discover what Koa’s adoptive grandmother, a Qüido named Haku, knows about the mysterious door on the island. Find out why the three crystals in the door have suddenly gone missing.
Key Features
- You’ll have your own tropical island.
- Plant, grow and harvest your own food and manage your island and resources.
- Unravel the mystery of Mara and protect the sea from a evil corporation.
- Sail all over your archipelago and find new islands and treasures.
- Over 20 characters to meet and trade with. Befriend them!
- Unlock and acquire new skills and abilities for Koa, helping her to craft, trade and explore in an easy-RPG system.
- Improve your boat, make it bigger and faster.
- Day and night cycle with climate events.
For more information about Summer in Mara, go to Chibig’s website here. Love the “summer islands” feel of the game, reminiscent of Moana? Check out our other articles about Leilani’s Island here and Solo Islands of the Heart here.
Photo Gallery
- Jul 8, 2019
Fans of Harry Potter and Little Witch Academia will be pleased to hear that there are currently two very exciting magic school games in development. Whilst Chucklefish’s game, which has the working title of ‘Witchbrook’ is still in its early stages, Ikenfell is much further in development. Ikenfell is expected to be released around June 2018.
Interestingly, both games use pixel game art, are simulation games, and are (obviously) set in a magic school. However, they both have unique art styles, with Chucklefish’s game Witchbrook having visual similarities to their very popular game, Stardew Valley.
Ikenfell
Ikenfell is a JRPG game which utilises turn-based and timing-based battle mechanics. These mechanics enhance it’s variety of characters and story development. It’ creator has said it’s art style was influenced by a plethora of games such as Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Earthbound (Witchbrook, Starbound, Earthbound, Warbound, everything-bound!), and Robotrek. The game also takes i nspiration from fictional teen series such as Harry Potter and Carry On.
The game’s publisher is Humble Bundle, and its platforms are PC, Mac and possibly Linux. Humble Bundle are helping to polish the game, market it, and will soon add it to Steam.
An update from the game’s founder talks of the release of a new game trailer at the beginning of 2018, so look out for that!
Currently, the game takes around 20 hours to complete (possibly more for less experienced players).
Story
Safina is invited to the magical school of Ikenfell for witches and wizards, leaving behind her slightly embittered sister Maritte, who doesn’t have magic powers. Safina soon becomes one of the school’s most notorious students.
However, Safina doesn’t return home one summer. She has gone missing alongside the school’s headmistress.
You play as Maritte, who goes to Ikenfell to find her sister and discover the truth of what exactly is going on.
The expansive school is full of ‘magic, mysteries, secret passages, hidden rooms, and many strange characters’ for you to explore.
Features:
- Magical duels within an original turn-based RPG battle system
- The ability to time your hits to increase spellpower and to block incoming attacks
- An expansive magic school, containing mysteries and secrets
- A variety of strange and interesting characters
- Hidden spell, items and equipment to aid you
- Friendship, rivalry and romance
Characters:
Witchbrook
Witchbrook is an up and coming RPG turn-based strategy simulation game in development by Chucklefish, the creators of Wargroove and publishers of Stardew Valley. Finn Brice, the founder and director of the game says that a formal announcement is “maybe quite a way off”. He also suggests that the game is around a three-to-four year project. The working title Witchbrook came from Chucklefish’s game Wargroove’s working title, Warbound.
Influences on the game include a variety of old Nintendo console games (Earthbound again perhaps?), as well as games such as Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon and 2D Zelda games. Although not the intention of Chucklefish, many people compare the game’s graphics to Little Witch Academia. However, Brice has said that Ghibli films such as Kiki’s delivery service (which look similar to Little Witch Academia) did influence the game’s art style.
Features:
- A day and night cycle
- Magic classes to attend
- Dating mechanics
- Folkore and exciting areas to explore
- Undisclosed “interesting gameplay twists.”
However, unlike Ikenfell, which is heavily story based, the developers want Witchbrook to have the appeal of Stardew Valley where players can simply enjoy being inside a charming world and make it their own.
Dating:
Similar to Ikenfell, Witchbrook allows players to have relationships with other characters and to go on dates with them. However, these don’t always go to plan, making the game more true-to-life, as opposed to the idealised romance often portrayed in other forms of media.
However, Brice reassures players that even though the developers want to hit home and capture what it’s like to be in school, they want to provide a nice kind of nostalgia for players. Therefore, interactions with other characters won’t be too difficult or ‘horrific’.
Ikenfell has been pretty much complete since late 2016, with the kickstarter campaign being set up to mainly fund:
- Vocals for battle and vocalists for some music tracks
- Additional battle animations and story animations
- Additional artwork for cut scenes and critical moments
- Any additional software and licences required for the above
However, Witchbrook still has plenty of room for development, influences and features.
What would you like to see in Witchbrook?
- Jul 1, 2019
LEGO has been at the forefront of wholesome games for decades. Now, they have joined forces with mobile producer and developer Nimblebit LLC to create LEGO Tower. We can’t wait to dive into this virtual brick building experience!
About the Game:
LEGO Tower is very similar to Nimblebit’s Tiny Tower. Your main objective is to build the biggest and best tower you can. Each floor fits into a different category. These range from residential apartment floors to restaurants, gyms, and more.
Instead of Tiny Tower’s “bitizens”, you have LEGO minifigures. Your minifigures live and work in your creation. You can customize the appearance of your minifigure residents and assign them jobs.
The biggest difference seems to be the graphics. Instead of Nimblebit’s signature pixels, the graphics look like LEGO pieces. What is really neat about this is the potential customization. In Tiny Tower you had a forever growing gray skyscraper with an orange crane on the top. In LEGO Tower your tower can be green with a dinosaur on top or red, mimicking LEGO’s NINJAGO collection.
Like Tiny Tower, you can visit your friends’ towers. It seems friendship is important to the game, as you have the ability to gift friends materials to help them build.
There seems to be a focus on collection in LEGO Tower. You can supposedly collect “hundreds of unique minifigure pieces.” There are also hidden characters you can find, along with unlocking vehicles.
Watch the trailer:
LEGO Tower is out today for Android and iOS! Get it for free on the Google Play Store or the Apple Store.
Want more mobile games? Check out the myPotatoGames approved Forgotton Anne. Like running virtual businesses? Try The Sushi Spinnery and Little Dragons Cafe. We also suggest keeping an eye out for Creature Resort.
- May 30, 2019
Planet Zoo is currently being developed by Frontier Developments. They probably need no introduction as they also are the ones behind Planet Coaster and Zoo Tycoon. The game is a management and simulation game about creating your very own zoo. The game is set to release sometime in the Fall of 2019 for PC. You can view the announcement trailer and some information about the game with us here.
Another Planet Zoo Developer Journal has been posted, where Programmer Megan Brown and Senior Designer David Bamber discuss animal behaviours. See below for the major details about their developer post and how you can better manage your zoo.
From left to right: Programmer Megan Brown and Senior Designer David Bamber Habitats and Socializing
There needs to be the correct types of terrain and environments for the animals. There also needs to be somewhere where they can take shelter if they dislike being out in certain weather conditions. Meaning, weather can impact your zoo and your animals’ welfare. For example, rain and snow will make a habitat colder which may have a positive or negative consequence on your animals. Timber Wolves especially would love a snow drift or two.
Of course we all know that keeping your animals happy is a very important part of being a good zookeeper. The animals require a habitat well suited to their needs and desires as well as ongoing care and attention. Habitats need to be spacious enough for the number of animals they contain. That might be a few, depending on the species, because some animals need to socialize more than others. Plain Zebras for that matter will get unhappy very quickly if it finds itself alone.
Shelters and Privacy
Shelters are vital because the animals need a space where they can hide when they are stressed. They can become stressed due to weather conditions or if too many guests are peering in at them. Animals need some peace and some privacy too! Some animals are shy so avoid making a path all around the enclosure. The developers suggest to put windows in the walls at strategic points or a one-way glass instead. Keep an eye on your animals’ behaviour when it seems that they are always hiding. Another example of behaviour is when they lie down in a manner that shows that they are sick.
Food Quality and Other Necessities
You’ll also need to take care of food, water, enrichment items, and the habitat cleanliness. Therefore, you’ll need to make sure you have plenty of zookeepers. Something you may find new is what the developers had to say about food: Food quality is another thing you’ll want to take into account, as it improves the nutritional welfare of your animals. You can research better quality foods for each species, but this will carry an increased cost, so it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it. Higher welfare animals have the potential to live longer, raise young more successfully, and be more appealing to guests.
Speaking of cleanliness, we felt the need to share the following quote from David, the Senior Designer: I don’t think we can talk about animal behaviour without talking about dung… it’s always a fun aspect to work on (my YouTube recommendations list is now very specific)! We’ve tried to pay special attention to the size, shape, number of ‘boli’ in a pile, and frequency compared to eating rates. We wanted to make sure this vital aspect of zookeeper work is properly represented, and some animals will need extra keepers simply to keep up with the volume of dung (I’m looking at you Elephants!). We know from our conversations with keepers that this less glamourous side of animal care is time consuming, but is absolutely vital to keeping them fit and healthy. By the way, every piece of dung is a physics object that rolls downhill!
Mating System
The mating system compared to Zoo Tycoon will be a little more detailed this time around. Specifically, who will mate with whom. In real life animals have hugely varied mating habits. This ranges from monogamy to polygamy and to seemingly no mating rules at all! This is a more realistic approach to real-life wildlife. To give some examples: with West African Lions, only the Alpha male will be allowed to mate with the females in his pride. Reticulated Giraffes however will mate with any member of the opposite sex.
You can even build habitats for pairs and juveniles, ‘bachelor’ groups of young males, or related family groups. Each species has a range of group sizes and gender mixes it is happy with. Therefore, dig into the Zoopedia to research and plan your populations. The developers go on to say: Maintaining a diverse gene pool is very important, especially if you want your population to remain healthy. Inbreeding between closely related animals will lead to reduced fertility rates and increased chances of catching nasty diseases, so to maintain a healthy group, you will need to make sure mating does not occur between related animals and may need to periodically introduce new individuals to maintain diversity.
Frontier Developments also mention the following: Another example of this is how West African Lions interact with each other as a group. If you put more than one adult male in with an adult female then those animals are going to fight for dominance, and the winner of that fight will become the Alpha of the lions in that habitat. This grants him the sole rights to mating with the females and producing offspring, so if you want specific creatures to breed you’ll need to keep this in mind.
More Annoucments
The developers have been posting different animals that they are confirming will be in the game via Twitter. Each week we get a new reveal along with #ZoopediaFacts about them. The most recent animal is this little cutie-pie below. In one of their Twitch videos, they mention that different species of animals, such as tortoises, will change depending on the island they are on.
Planet Zoo will be appearing at E3’s PC Gaming Show on June 10th, 2019 where they’ll be on stage to reveal the first gameplay trailer for Planet Zoo! We’ll finally get to see how enclosures are constructed and the movements of some animals! Stay tuned with us at myPotatoGames as we learn more about this game!
- May 16, 2019
Moving Out is created by SMG Studio in Australia (and in collaboration with Devm Games in Stockholm), an indie game development studio that won awards for their games such as Death Squared. This hilarious action, puzzle, and physics-based moving simulator game is a nice mesh of Frogger and Overcooked! I mean who doesn’t want to become a F.A.R.T (certified Furniture Arrangement & Relocation Technician)? For now, you can wishlist the game on Steam, which has a release date window of 2019.
Complete the 50+ levels that will let you get into all sorts of shenanigans. For example, unloading cargo off moving planes, smuggling giraffes out of the zoo, and transporting goods to strange locales like haunted houses and outer space. Furthermore, customers appreciate prompt delivery so you can break down the walls, throw things, and use technology like portals and ray guns!
Local Co-op and Multiplayer
Be an independent contractor or team up with a friend! Moving Out features both local and online play across its arcade, story, and versus modes. Each level also adjusts the experience dynamically to account for the number of players on screen, thereby welcoming Smooth Move employees of all ages and skill levels. Moreover, with party mode you’ll be able to compete for the highest score locally or against the community.
Character Customization
As you can see in SMG Studio’s latest Tweet, you can change your avatar’s hair and skin color. You can be blue, purple, or green; anything goes in this quirky game!
Check out their website here if you want to sign up and follow them for more information. For another wacky and cooperative game, check out our article about Knights and Bikes. If relocating and unpacking is your thing, check out Unpacking.
